


Not As Seen On TV

by nagi_schwarz



Series: Juris Imprudence [34]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Stargate SG-1
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-10
Updated: 2016-11-10
Packaged: 2018-08-30 06:41:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8522524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nagi_schwarz/pseuds/nagi_schwarz
Summary: Written for the comment_fic prompt: "Stargate Multiverse, Any, the silly side of being lawyers."Bucky follows Daniel to court for trial.





	

Daniel was glad to have Bucky back, because in a few short weeks, he’d become very accustomed to having someone triaging his phone calls and scheduling his home visits and team meetings while he was on the road. He was sure the rest of the office was glad to have Bucky back, because Bucky’s return meant Lorne had returned. While Nathan had proved to be an apt student of Lorne’s, had kept the office running smoothly and efficiently, with timely delivery of snacks and all - he’d even arranged the schedule so that the task of snack delivery was divided up among multiple paralegals to keep the stress off Lorne - there was something about the boy that just didn’t sit right with Daniel, and the less he had to see of the boy, the better.  
  
The best thing about having a paralegal was that Daniel didn’t have to be completely overwhelmed every time he went into trial. Trials with private attorneys were, hands down, the worst. The upcoming trial was looking to be a complete sideshow. The father’s attorney came swaggering into court, armed with a rolling cart filled with five-inch binders of evidence. With him came co-counsel, an older female attorney in a conservative dark dress suit, and a paralegal. The mother’s attorney sashayed into court in what amounted to a very long shirt, thigh-high boots, and a fur coat Daniel had only ever expected to see on a pimp. Her paralegal was a young woman who was ashen beneath her dark skin, hair escaping from a wispy bun, and looking very stressed out. The mother’s attorney also had a massive binder of evidence.  
  
Daniel would have been hard-pressed to wrangle multiple binders of evidence on his own, in addition to taking notes and organizing his questions and examinations of witnesses. With Bucky at his side, things would be easier.  
  
Before trial started, though, there were some emergency hearings that the judge needed to hold. Several other attorneys were lingering in the hallway, waiting for their cases to be called.  
  
“Sit back and enjoy the show,” Daniel said to Bucky in a low voice.  
  
Bucky raised his eyebrows. “I did shadow attorneys at court while I was seeking my paralegal certificate.”  
  
“Juvenile court,” Daniel said, “is very different from district court. Observe.” He cleared his throat. “Hey, Gary, howzit?”  
  
Gary was a Vietnam vet, had grown up in Hawaii, and had a gaggle of grandchildren. “It’s good. Who’s your new friend? Intern?”  
  
“Paralegal,” Daniel said. “Bucky Barnes. Army, First Sergeant, retired.”  
  
Gary offered a casual salute. “Nice to meet you. You play Pokemon Go?” He was poking at his phone.   
  
Bucky blinked. “Ah, no.”  
  
“The grandkids love it.” Gary hollered at the bailiffs. “Persephone, Dale, how do I light incense? To attract Pokemon?”  
  
Two of the bailiffs - one a woman with unnaturally red hair, the other a man with a handlebar mustache - crowded around Gary with their own smart phones.  
  
“Check it out,” Dale said. “You go into this menu here, and - there. Pick the incense.”  
  
Gary peered at Dale’s phone, then tapped at his. “Sweet. Hey, where did you get that outfit?”  
  
“I customize my outfits every time I catch a new Pokemon,” Persephone said.  
  
Bucky stared at the bailiffs and attorney, baffled. A couple of kids, looking uncomfortable in their Sunday best and perched on the edges of the uncomfortable seats so their feet touched the ground, stared at the attorney and the bailiffs in disbelief.  
  
Daniel smiled at them. “Do you play Pokemon Go?” They weren’t his clients.  
  
The kids shook their heads, eyes wide.  
  
“Hey, the incense worked!” Gary was on his feet, cell phone outstretched. “Do either of you already have a Vulpix? Or can I catch it?”  
  
“All yours,” Persephone said lazily.  
  
Dale huffed. “Well, it was your incense that attracted it, so - I’ll get the next one.”  
  
And Gary tapped at his phone like a madman.  
  
Bucky leaned over to Daniel. “Are they serious?”

“As heart attacks,” Daniel said. Another attorney came wandering out of the break room, a little carton of yogurt in hand. “Hey, Beatrice.”  
  
“Hey, Daniel.” Beatrice was of indeterminate age, between forty and eighty, and Daniel had never dared ask for her true age. She was from Connecticut and had once been a federal prosecutor, and she routinely made younger attorneys cry in court. She also loved hiking and Daniel was pretty sure she could literally walk forever. “Who’s the new stud?”  
  
Bucky blushed.  
  
“Bucky’s my paralegal.”  
  
Beatrice whistled. “Wow. O’Neill’s dropping the big bucks.”  
  
No one outside the firm knew Jack and Daniel were dating.  
  
“I have trial today,” Daniel explained.  
  
Beatrice flicked a glance over the other trial attorneys and their massive binders of evidence. “Ah. Smart, to have backup.” She tore the foil lid off of the carton with her teeth, reached into her purse, rooted around, and came up with a highlighter. She dipped it into the yogurt, scooped up some yogurt, and popped it into her mouth.  
  
Bucky blinked.  
  
“What kind of trial?” Beatrice sank down on one of the chairs, next to her battered black leather briefcase.  
  
“Private TPR,” Daniel said.  
  
Beatrice kept spooning up her yogurt with her highlighter. Bucky watched in undisguised fascination. The two kids beside her were staring as well. “Those are rough. So much work for you, with no caseworkers doing investigation or acting as mediators. You know which side you’re supporting?”  
  
Daniel darted a glance at the other two attorneys for his trial, who were doing their best to look like they weren’t listening.  
  
He smiled. “I do know.”  
  
Beatrice winked. “Nice.” Such a nice lawyer answer, she meant.  
  
Well, Daniel had gone to law school.  
  
The unbelievably perky bailiff Riley came striding down the hallway, bellowed a case name. Gary and the kids rallied themselves and marched into the courtroom behind Riley.  
  
“Guy’s got lungs,” Bucky observed.  
  
Daniel nodded. “He used to do night shifts at the jail. He’s an unusual little ray of sunshine.” Before he could teach Bucky some more about the juvenile court staff, the mother’s attorney beckoned to him. Daniel, because even lawyers could be saucy, hummed a few bars of Lady Marmalade as he crossed the hall to speak to her.  
  
What followed in that little conference room was an exercise in comedy and futility. Daniel wondered, idly, if he could submit a script to Ally McBeal or some other lawyer drama. Mother’s attorney batted her eyelashes and attempted to garner sympathy, what with this being only her third trial ever.  
  
(Bucky had done a brief background check on her. She’d been in practice for fourteen years.)  
  
Father’s attorney distributed his well put-together binders of evidence with a smarmy smile. Daniel distributed the slim files Bucky had made for him. Mother’s attorney immediately expressed much dismay, because she’d never seen any of these before. Daniel wanted to bang his head against the table, because he had seen all of the Father’s exhibits at least a dozen times, masqueraded and relabeled as more exhibits than they were.  
  
They agreed to talk about stipulating to the entry of some of the exhibits over the next few days of trial (which crushed Daniel’s faint hope that trial would be done in a day), and then it was time to muster the troops, to go on in and set up.  
  
Daniel stepped out of the conference room, binders tucked under one arm, and saw - Bucky. Sitting beside Daniel’s briefcase and laptop bag, paralyzed as a little toddler boy cuddled up to him. It was Daniel’s client for the trial - the judge wanted to meet the child before testimony started. There wasn’t much a five-year-old boy could say to sway the judge, but it would do her good to see him, how he was progressing and thriving.  
  
Daniel’s client was called, in an ironic turn of events, Snow. He had flawless black skin, bright golden eyes, and soft, tight little curls. He was perched on the arm of the chair beside Bucky, tugging at his hair.  
  
Daniel crouched down beside him. “Hey, Snow, how are you?”  
  
Snow gave Daniel thumbs-up.  
  
“You met Bucky, huh?”

Snow nodded.  
  
“You like Bucky?”  
  
Snow nodded again.  
  
“Bucky being nice to you?”  
  
“Bucky’s the bestest.” Snow peered up at Bucky and beamed. “Did you know? Bucky’s magic.”  
  
“Magic?” Daniel echoed.  
  
Snow nodded and produced a paper airplane. “He made it with one hand!”  
  
“That’s really cool.” Daniel smiled at him. “Hey, you want to go meet the judge?”  
  
“Bucky come with?”  
  
“Yeah.”  
  
Snow slid off of the chair beside Bucky’s and shook himself out, smoothed a hand over his little button-down shirt solemnly, and held his hand out to Bucky. Bucky looked startled, but Daniel gathered up the briefcase and laptop bag and trial binders and headed toward the courtroom just as Riley was headed toward him. Bucky slipped his hands into Snow's.  
  
“Ready to see the judge?” Riley asked.  
  
“Yes,” Daniel said. In the courtroom, Daniel set his gear down at his counsel table. Bucky led Snow up to the bench.  
  
Judge Tallman leaned over the bench. “Is this Snow?”  
  
Snow turned to Bucky and raised his hand. “Up!”  
  
Bucky leaned down, scooped Snow up onto his hip, and hoisted him up to the bench to see the judge. Judge Tallman smiled at Snow and had a soft conversation with him. Bucky balanced him carefully, bounced him when he got a little squirmy. At first he looked nervous, but eventually Snow snuggled against him, tucked up under his chin, and kept talking to the judge, smiling.  
  
“Is this your friend?” she asked.  
  
“I’m Mr. Jackson’s paralegal, ma’am. Bucky Barnes.”  
  
“Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Barnes. Looks like you made a new friend.”  
  
Snow said, “He’s a stud.”  
  
Judge Tallman burst out laughing. “Who told you that?”  
  
“The lady lawyer.”  
  
Bucky blushed bright red.  
  
“Well, I’m glad to see Mr. Jackson will have someone to help him out at this trial. Is there anything else you want to tell me, Snow?”  
  
Snow beamed at her. “Your hair is pretty.”  
  
“Why, thank you. You have lovely hair yourself. Are you going to do anything fun today?”  
  
“Play,” Snow said.  
  
“He means daycare while his mother’s at work,” Daniel said.  
  
“Well, have fun playing. It was so good to see you!” Judge Tallman gave Snow a little toy plastic car, which he thanked her for very politely, and then Bucky and Daniel escorted Snow back out to the hallway where his step-mother was waiting. He ran to her and gave her a big hug, beckoned Bucky over for introductions and then, to Daniel’s surprise, gave Bucky a hug.  
  
When trial started, Daniel noticed that Bucky had Snow’s little plastic car on the table beside his notepad.  
  
Bucky kept the car after trial ended for the day.  
  
The next week, when the trial was finally done, Daniel noticed Bucky kept the car on his desk at the office.


End file.
